


to run away

by theriveroflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Canonical Character Death, F/F, Gen or Pre-Slash, On the Run, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Volume 3 (RWBY), Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: "Why did you come to Beacon?" Blake asks. "You have everything. You didn't need to come here to save the world.""No," Weiss answers. "I came to run away." She looks over at Blake. "I think you can relate to that, even if we both ran from different things."
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna & Sun Wukong, Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee, Weiss Schnee & Sun Wukong
Comments: 16
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Um. Monochrome AU? This diverges after V3, but if I don't lose inspiration should go through 4 and 5 -- maybe V6. I don't quite have an outline where this meets up with canon.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter: canon character death and injury (Pyrrha and Yang), implied abuse
> 
> Unbeta'd, all errors are my own.

Ruby returns to her with Pyrrha's tiara.

"She's dead," she tells the two of them. Weiss and Jaune look between each other. Jaune takes the tiara wordlessly.

"Let's get back to the others," Weiss says.

If even the two leaders can't take charge, what's left?

* * *

"Weiss…" Father says. "Come with me."

"No," she answers, and runs. Weiss has never been the type to run away -- or maybe she  _ was,  _ and just never got the chance.

She runs fast and she runs far.

Grimm still swarm the wreckage of Vale and Beacon. She's  _ exhausted  _ and her Aura is running low and she's almost out of dust for Myrtenaster, but she can't go back to Atlas. She can't go back to the mansion.

And then she sees a shadow on a rooftop.

_ Blake. _

She clambors up the rubble to meet her.

Blake has tears gathering in her eyes. "Weiss?"

"What happened?"

"I…" Blake starts to shake, and Weiss panics a bit because  _ what should she do? _

"I left. I couldn't bear to see Yang. It was my fault, after all. What are you doing back here? I thought you would be in Atlas by now."

"I told my father no when he wanted to take me back to Atlas. So maybe we can be runaways together?"

Blake doesn't look at her. "Sure."

They find somewhere with slightly less Grimm to rest. Let their Auras regenerate. They'll get out of the city eventually.

* * *

They spend a few months there, fighting. Both of them are just about out of Dust. They stay out of the way of other students.

Weiss abandons her jacket with the SDC logo. It gets a little chilly at nights without it, but Blake understands her. They burn the ribbon and the jacket from one already burning fire, and then Weiss puts it out with the last of her ice dust.

Weiss shivers a bit. Blake pulls her closer. "I think we should move on," Blake says.

"Yeah." Weiss rubs her hands over her arms. "Where to?"

"I want to go back to Menagerie, but...we have you."

Weiss looks down. "I know that I haven't been the best towards you. I'm trying to change. And if I change some things up, maybe I won't be as recognizable."

"You should go find Yang. I should go alone."

"I'm not just going to leave you. We're teammates. Yang and Ruby have each other. Who do you have?"

_ And who do I have?  _ Weiss thinks. Who else does she have? She abandoned her family. She doesn't  _ want  _ to go back to Atlas, and she doesn't know how to get to Patch.

"I need to go home. I want to relax, and not worry about getting  _ killed every day.  _ Every day we have to fight for our lives, Weiss. As long as we're here, we'll never have peace."

"And is peace what you want?"

"More than anything right now!"

"I…" Weiss doesn't know what to say. "Then, yeah. Maybe you should go home. While you still have a loving family."

She runs off.

"Weiss!" Blake calls.

Weiss evades the various Grimm around the city. She isn't looking for a fight today, not like she and Blake did together. 

But she runs into another person anyways, the sound of gunfire and screaming Grimm the only thing echoing in the streets.

And then she recognizes him.

"Sun?" He turns around.

"Give a guy some help, huh?"

She rolls her eyes, but hops into the fray with a glyph.

* * *

The Nevermore dissolves into dust a few minutes later.

"Thanks. I was dealing with multiple Grimm, so it was a little overwhelming for me."

"Don't mention it. What are you doing here? Where's the rest of your team?"

"On their way to Mistral," Sun answers dismissively. "They can manage without me for a bit, I hope."

"I couldn't imagine abandoning my team as the leader of it."

Sun looks a little sheepish at that. "I…"

"You left them."

"You left Blake."

"I didn't want to."

"She wanted you to leave, Weiss. She wants to be alone. You didn't want to leave her, so she pushed you into doing it."

She narrows her eyes. "I was going to let Blake cool off, and then go back to her."

"You gotta…you gotta keep going with her, Weiss. Otherwise she'll be alone, and I don't think she should be alone right now."

"She's going to Menagerie. I can't follow her there. Not as Weiss Schnee, ex-heiress."

"Ex?"

"After that stunt I pulled with my father? Absolutely."

"Oh. For whatever it's worth…"

"You should follow her. I think she would appreciate having you."  _ More than she would appreciate me. _

"I think she'd rather have a teammate than an outsider."

"She…I remind her of the rest of our team. Including Yang. She had...a special connection with Yang."

"One that we can only hope to replicate." Sun…gets it. "And one that she lost in the Fall."

"Yeah." She purses her lips. "Go. Before she leaves us in her dust."

"We go together. Or not at all."

"You really want to bring a Schnee to Menagerie?"

"You can stay hidden, I'm sure."

"I'm not so sure. I'm pretty recognizable," she says, tossing her hair. "And what could I even use?"

"There are plenty of non-visible traits. Could have the stomach of an herbivore. The hearts of an octopus. The…"

"Okay, interesting, but nothing too graphic."

"What? I was just gonna say-"

"Bapaba!" Weiss places her hand over his mouth. "Nope."

"But we need to grab you a new outfit. At least a new jacket and some more functional shoes."

"...yeah. And what about you?"

"I like my current fit, what's wrong with it?"

She skeptically looks him up and down. "Are you seriously asking  _ me  _ that question?"

* * *

They walk out of the store in the small town with a few bags. Sun turns away while Weiss changes.

"All good."

Weiss feels more confident in the new outfit. It's more comfortable, walking the line between elegant and rebellious.

She hands Sun Myrtenaster. "Weird question, but could you...artfully slash the sleeves on my jacket?"

"Anything for fashion, I guess."

A couple rips later, and they're on their way.

The next ship to Menagerie leaves soon. Two hours. Weiss has enough Lien on her for both of them.

Sun has a cloak. She wears her hair down.

The two of them have an agreement, for now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake is looking for peace, but she should have known the fallout would follow her like the shadows she once called home.
> 
> (V4C3: Of Runaways and Stowaways, part 1.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously: Weiss and Blake team up to survive at Beacon. After some time, Blake leaves Weiss to go to Menagerie. Weiss and Sun encounter each other and team up to follow Blake.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this chapter. It didn't take me as long as I thought it would.

Blake…feels lonely. In a way that she hasn't since she left Adam. In a way that she hasn't truly been since she arrived at Beacon. And Blake hopes that if she goes back to her family, she won't be lonely -- and she'll have peace. Peace, when she truly needs it.

Her hands go up to the ribbon over her ears. She…

Footsteps.

She grabs the handle of Gambol Shroud. "Who's there?"

She sees the captain of the ship. "Relax," he says. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"...what?"

"I find that those who travel alone have the most interesting stories," he says, a twinkle in his eyes. "Plus, a little less paranoia could certainly do you some good." She narrows her eyes.

"And who says I'm paranoid?!"

"No one, dear." He laughs. "No one. I'll leave you to it, then."

She watches him go - and catches a glimpse of a cloaked stranger and a snatch of white hair.

Blake shakes it off as a hallucination. Weiss couldn't have followed her. There's no way. No.

She unties the ribbon, flexing her ears. "Won't be needing this anymore." She lets go, and it drifts into the sea and starts to sink.

* * *

A sea serpent.

The guns on her side of the ship come out and they fire. But she doubts they've ever had to handle anything this big before.

She needs to join the fight. To help. Just….one more fight.

And…peace will come when she's in Menagerie. She won't have to worry, or fight, or get called paranoid. There won't be anything to be concerned about anymore. No teammates, no guilt, no White Fang. A fresh start. 

(Her worst fear…is that she'll never get away, that no matter how far she runs, Blake Belladonna cannot outrun everything that she's done.)

She uses a clone to spring her up, and she catches another glimpse of the cloaked stranger-- wait.

The cloak falls away to reveal Sun. "Sun?"

He fires a salute at her before splitting his staff into its gunchucks and firing at the monster. She dodges the beams of electricity it fires at her, extending Gambol Shroud into its sword form and slicing at its scales. She jumps back towards the deck. For a second, she almost thinks that she'll fall into the sea. Then, all of a sudden, she's balancing on...a glyph? There are a few more ascending up to the ship. She vaguely hears Sun and someone - Weiss? - talking. She ascends up the glyphs as the guns on the ship start firing.

The heavy cannon on the front lands a hit, and the sea dragon writhes as it sprouts  _ wings.  _ As if her day could get any worse.

"What are you  _ doing  _ here?" she says to the two of them. Weiss doesn't have her hair tied up. "I thought I told you to leave," she directs her comment at Weiss. "I didn't want anyone to follow me."

"Yeah, well, grateful we're here now, huh?" Sun answers.

The captain comes out of the bridge. "You're Huntsmen?"

Weiss nods as she works on tying that off-center ponytail back into place.

"It's moving too fast for our big cannon, but if you clip its wings and lure it over, we can take it out for you."

Blake looks towards Sun and Weiss. "We can do that," she says. She's fought with both of them as individuals.

"Let's go," Sun says. "I can help you get up there."

"I can get myself up there, and sustain it," Weiss says. "And I can give you a boost if you need it, Blake."

Blake looks at the determination visible in the way Weiss grips onto Myrtenaster, the way that Sun is holding his staff. "Alright."

Sun activates his Semblance, clones jumping into the air as Blake and Weiss take off. Weiss hops from glyph to glyph as the clones support Blake. She uses one more of her own to get her up there, landing on the wing and dragging her weapon down the lining. Weiss drags her weapon and cuts off one wing as Blake gets the other.

She watches Weiss skate to lure it over, and then the ship shoots it down. When she falls, she feels herself passing through one of Weiss's glyphs, but Sun ultimately catches her.

The captain comes out. "Thank you three for being here. If you ever need a favor, call me."

Weiss firmly nods. "Of course!" Sun declares.

Weiss probably knows how important favors are, growing up with the coldness of rich humans. But with Sun, Blake can see the trading of favors going on often in his team. But Blake doesn't know for sure.

"You aren't supposed to be here," she says as she turns to them. "What are you doing?"

"You think you're being selfless by leaving us behind. But you just hurt us more," Sun explains. "I go where I'm needed. And I need to be here. You need someone to support you, especially if you're doing what I think you are."

"And what do you think?" She indulges him. She told Weiss -- but did Weiss tell him?

"You're going on a one-woman rampage against the White Fang!" Sun flexes. Weiss facepalms. Blake just...blinks at him in disbelief.

"No," she simply says, and walks off.

* * *

Weiss is the one who finds her later on. "We're kind of already on the ship."

"You could always cash in that favor to go home."

"Where exactly  _ is  _ home for me? I ran away from Atlas. Beacon is destroyed and abandoned. Where else do I have to go? And yeah, I'm being a little selfish, but…but I'm choosing you on purpose. I know you want peace. I know you don't want to be reminded. But you can't run from your problems. Running won't bring you peace."

"And you think it'll bring you freedom?" Blake snaps, shaking her head. "I thought you were the other realist of the team. But you're just as bad as Ruby or Yang."

"It might not bring me freedom." Weiss gets up to walk out. She pauses in the doorway. "But at least now I'm choosing my shackles."

Blake doesn't have a response.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave a kudos/comment if you enjoyed. Have a great day/night/wherever you are.


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